Peter T Young

June 14, 2016 by Peter T Young 1 Comment

Kapiʻolani Maternity Home

“The Hui Hoʻolulu a Ho‘ola Lahui of Kalākaua I was organized at Kawaiahaʻo, Her Royal Highness Princess Kapili Likelike being President. … A large number of members joined the Society on this day, some 51. The amount of money collected was $17.00, the dues being ten cents per month.” (Report of the Executive Committee, February 19, 1874)

“His Majesty Kalākaua designed and established an organization for benevolent work amongst his people; it was called the Ho‘oululahui. The first meeting of the society having been appointed at Kawaiahaʻo Church, there was a good attendance of the first ladies of the city, not only those of Hawaiian families, but also of foreign birth.”

“It was my brother’s intention that the society should have as its head Her Majesty Kapiʻolani, his queen … Like many other enterprises of charity, the original intentions of the founders have been improved upon; and the society is merged in other good works, or its purposes diverted to slightly different ends. The organization is now consolidated in the Maternity Home …” (Liliʻuokalani)

Attending Queen Victoria’s Jubilee celebration, 1887, in London, Kapiʻolani made many visits to hospitals and foundling homes and returned to Hawaiʻi with much enthusiasm and exciting plans for her hospital. She wanted to establish a hospital for underprivileged Hawaiian women to have the best care for mothers and babies.

“The Kapiʻolani Maternity Home, corner of Beretania and Makiki Sts, was opened to the public on Saturday afternoon (June 14, 1890) their Majesties the King and Queen drove up to the home punctually at 3 o’clock”.

“Quite a large number of ladies were out to inspect the Home, the lady board of managers taking particular pains to shew them round. It is to be hoped that this beautiful new home will be largely availed of by Hawaiians.”

“There are five bedrooms, one furnished by Mrs TR Foster, one each by the Widemann and Robinson families, one by Mrs Canavarro and Mrs JI Dowsett, and one by Mrs S Parker, Mrs TW Everett and Mrs EP Low.”

“They all looked cosy and neat. In the dining room are hung pictures of the King and Queen. There is also a matron’s room and a kitchen with range. Mrs. Johnson has been placed in the home as matron.” (Pacific Commercial Advertiser, June 16, 1890)

“The Ho‘oulu and Ho‘ola Lahui Society, that instituted the Home and appointed a Board of Managers for it, has acquired an endowment fund of $8,000, only the interest of which is available for the Home.”

“Her Majesty gives the house free for the first year, which will expire in four and a half months from date. Dr. Trousseau’s generous tender of free professional services was also for the first year.” (Daily Bulletin, January 22, 1891)

It started in the former residence of Princess Kekaulike, then moved into an adjacent building (former home of August Dreier,) a more spacious 2-story structure. Services included child birthing, as well as simple neo-natal and maternal care. If complications arose, physicians from Queen’s would assist.

“The Home was unique in many regards. First, it represented one prong of the Kalākaua’s’ attempt to deal with the declining population of the native Hawaiians in the kingdom.”

“Second, the Home was established and dominated in its early management by women, And third, in comparison to the other crown-based health entities (Queen’s Hospital, Lunalilo Home and Lili‘uokalani Children’s Center,) the Kapiʻolani Home was least endowed by the mechanism of royal philanthropy.” (Kamakahi)

Fundraising was on going … “The charity luau given on Saturday under the direction of Queen Dowager Kapiʻolani, for the benefit of the Kapiʻolani Maternity Home was an unqualified success in every particular.”

“During the day the ice cream booth was also a small mint, as no young man who possessed fifty cents was allowed to depart without first spending it. … The coffee stand was … assisted by a bevy of young ladies. They all did their share towards the substantial result of the day. … The luau reflects great credit on everybody concerned, and should return a handsome sum for the Kapiʻolani Home. (Pacific Commercial Advertiser, March 7, 1892)

Luau fundraising continued as the facility was expanded, “The trustees of the Kapiʻolani Maternity Home have found it necessary to build an additional wing to the main building to meet the pressing demands and it is intended to hold a luau and fair on the grounds of the Home in the early part of the month of October coming for the purpose of raising additional fund to the already existing building fund of $4,500.” The Independent, August 26, 1903)

By the early-1920s, the Home’s sights were set on the creation of a medical facility with physicians on staff. Rather than compete with other medical institutions (Queen’s, Kuakini, Tripler, St Francis, etc,) in general care, it moved its location, again, and from Home to Hospital status, and changed its name to Kapiʻolani Maternity and Gynecological Hospital in 1931. (Kamakahi)

Across town, Albert and Emma Wilcox purchased land and built a hospital; in 1909, the Kauikeōlani Children’s Hospital opened on Kuakini Street and was named in Emma’s honor. (The deaths of five of her siblings at early ages greatly influenced Emma’s concern for the welfare of all native Hawaiians.)

In 1978, the Kapiʻolani Hospital and the Kauikeolani Children’s Hospital merged to become Kapiolani Medical Center for Women & Children. (KMC)

Renovation and expansion began with construction of a new 17-floor parking structure that opened in 2013. A new five-story, 200,000 square-foot building is currently under construction and scheduled for completion in 2016. It will house an expanded Neonatal Intensive Care Unit (NICU) and Pediatric Intensive Care Unit (PICU).

The new building will also provide new space for the Rehabilitation Services Department and teaching space to train Hawaii’s future health care professionals in obstetrics and gynecology, pediatric and other specialty areas of care. It will include an auditorium and education and conference rooms. (KMC)

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Kapiolani Maternity Home – formerly the home of A Drier – on Makiki and Beretania St-PP-40-7-017

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Queen Kapiolani Statue

June 13, 2016 by Peter T Young 1 Comment

Objets d’art

Honolulu’s first neon sign flickered to life on February 19, 1929, with the opening of Gump’s Waikiki an antiques and home furnishing store. (Honolulu) The third oldest structure in Waikiki, Gump’s was one of the first retail shops in Waikiki.

S & G Gump was founded in San Francisco in 1861 as a mirror and frame shop by Solomon Gump and his brother, Gustav. It later sold mouldings, gilded cornices and European artwork to those recently made wealthy from the California Gold Rush.

With the beginning of a new century, the Gump brothers handed over the reins to Solomon’s son, Alfred Livingston Gump. Soon thereafter, the San Francisco earthquake of 1906 forced AL, as he was known, to rebuild and restock the store.

He looked to the Far East for new inspiration, sending buyers to Japan and China to find exotic rugs, porcelain, silks, bronzes and jade. Among the most prized acquisitions, a Ch’ing Dynasty gilded wood Buddha, still gazes serenely over the first floor of Gump’s. It remains the largest of its kind outside of a museum.

By the 1920s, San Francisco was roaring right along with the rest. Gump’s and The City had become intertwined – the store synonymous with San Francisco in its elegance, worldly style and maverick spirit. (Gumps)

Back in the Islands, as tourism began to develop in the 1920s and 30s, people saw commercial possibilities for Waikiki. One of the most endearing was the Honolulu branch of S&G Gump Company of San Francisco.

Asian design elements were beginning to influence architecture in Hawai‘i, and the merging of these motifs and Western forms became visible in the Gump Building, as well as the Alexander & Baldwin Building on Bishop Street in Downtown Honolulu and the Honolulu Museum of Art.

In 1927, Hawai’i architect Hart Wood was commissioned to design this new outpost perfectly located between the Far East and the West.

The store opened in 1929, across the street from the recently completed Royal Hawaiian Hotel, to cater to the affluent traveler and Honolulu elite. It carried an aura of class and provided products from around the world to Hawai’i’s doorstep, presenting tourists and residents with an ornately appointed atmosphere filled with ancient and modern objet d’art. (Oahu Publications)

In Mr. Wood’s work there is a notable lack of the garishness, over-ornamentation and ‘weirdness’ too often loosely associated with Oriental architecture. His roofs curve, it is true, but only slightly; colored tiles are used, but in a restrained manner.

“The insertion of a grill of plaster in a plain stucco wall, the design and size being in walls are of stucco, quite plain, the roofs of tile, the whole effect one of substantial simplicity. The only difference lies in the details of ornamentation, mostly about the doors and windows.”

“One of the more noticeable of these decorative details is found in the designs of iron grill work, leaded windows, balcony railings and like places. Chinese designs are geometrical, mostly coordinated squares keeping with the medium, offers one of the most charming forms of decoration imaginable.”

“The introduction of color by the use of tiles is interesting also, not only in tiling for the roof, but inset in the walls as decoration. Where wood is used, natural teak is preferred, and the pillars are simply slender round columns with a characteristic cross bar treatment at the top.”

“An outstanding example of such a building is the branch shop at Waikiki of the S & G Gump Company of San Francisco. It is of two story, concrete construction of pleasing design.”

“The walls are of white stucco, the gutters, leaders and leader heads are of antique copper verde, and the plaster grills as mentioned before, it proves a particularly effective way to use this form of decoration.”

“Gateway openings in the walls are of quaint and unusual design, one of them being a ‘moon gate’ which is shown in one of the illustrations. The circle motif appears again in one of the slightly curving roof of imperial blue tiles.”

“This brilliant blue is a favorite roof color in China and one that blends well with the blue of the sub-tropical sky. No other colors than this blue, jade and white appeal in the building, except the dark teakwood pillars of the entrance and railings of the several balconies.”

“A white plaster wall incloses three courtyards, and these walls are pierced by windows of the shop. All the windows show the geometrical design in the shape of the panes or in grills. Balcony railings are also geometrical.” (The Architect & Engineer, October 1929)

Back then, it was a two-story white building standing virtually alone on Kalākaua Avenue. It is an example of the architecture of Hawai‘i’s pre-War territorial period, 1898-1941, when the sugar and pineapple industries were operating at full tilt.

A number of distinctive buildings were constructed during those years, adapting features of Asian, Mediterranean or European styles that suited Hawai‘i’s tropical climate, including large openings to catch the trade winds, wide eaves and often a double-pitched hipped roof.

The first commercial perfume successfully made in Hawaiʻi from local island flowers (pikake, pink plumeria and fern lei – each sold in hand-carved wooden bottles) was introduced in January 1935 at the Gump’s store in Waikiki. (Schmitt)

If the Gump family had a vision of the potential for shopping along Kalākaua Avenue, they were decades ahead of their time. Even in the 1950s and early 1960s, Kalākaua Avenue was not a center of high-end retail sales.

February 24, 1951 Gump’s announced it will close its Waikiki store after 25 years of business in Honolulu. The store was closed to settle the estate of AL Gump.

It was not until the 1980s, with the arrival of waves of visitors from Japan, that a significant number of other high-end shops, comparable to Gump’s, sprang up in Waikīkī.

In fact, the Gump building in Waikīkī was converted into a McDonald’s restaurant (in the 1970s or 1980s.) With the boom that began in the late-1980s, it was sold in 1991 to a corporate affiliate of high-end retailer Louis Vuitton Malletier of Paris, refurbished and, in 1992, rededicated to retail. (Kelley)

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June 12, 2016 by Peter T Young 2 Comments

Loyalty to Locality

Using stratigraphic archaeology and refinements in radiocarbon dating, studies suggest it was about 900-1000 AD that “Polynesian explorers first made their remarkable voyage from central Eastern Polynesia Islands, across the doldrums and into the North Pacific, to discover Hawai‘i.” (Kirch)

The motivations of the voyagers varied. Some left to explore the world or to seek adventure. Others departed to find new land or new resources because of growing populations or prolonged droughts and other ecological disasters in their homelands. (PVS)

Early settlement patterns in the Islands put people on the windward sides of the islands, typically along the shoreline. Settlement patterns tended to be dispersed and without major population centers.

Most of the makaʻāinana (common people) were farmers, a few were fishermen. Tenants cultivated smaller crops for family consumption, to supply the needs of chiefs and provide tributes.

Fishermen and their families living around the bays and the beaches, or at isolated localities along the coast where fishing was practicable, led a life that was materially simpler than that of planters who dwelt on the plains.

There was no term for village. The typical homestead or kauhale consisted of the sleeping or common house, the men’s house, women’s eating house, and storehouse, and generally stood in relative isolation in dispersed communities.

The terrain and the subsistence economy naturally created the dispersed community of scattered homesteads. It was only when topography or the physical character of an area required close proximity of homes that villages existed.

Where conglomerations of homesteads existed, they were not communities held together either by bonds of kinship or economic interdependence.

A spring (or springs) was sometimes the reason for a village-like conglomeration of homesteads. “But it is along and in the streams which rush through the bottoms of these narrow gorges that the Hawaiian is most at home.”

“Go into any of these valleys, and you will see a surprising sight : along the whole narrow bottom, and climbing often in terraces the steep hillsides, you will see the little taro patches, skillfully laid so as to catch the water, either directly from the main stream, or from canals taking water out above.” (Nordhoff, 1874)

The true community in which sundry homesteads were integrated by socio-religious and economic ties was the dispersed community of ʻohana. This word signifies relatives by blood, marriage, and adoption.

In the course of native settlement, as the early Hawaiians spread from fishing sites on the shore to inland areas and fanned out over the plains and hills from original centers of settlement, households with ties of relationship became scattered.

Some located on upland slopes (ko kula uka,) some on the plains toward the sea (ko kula kai,) and some along the shore (ko kaha kai.) Neighborly interdependence, the sharing of goods and services, naturally resulted in the settling of contiguous lands by a given ʻohana rather than in a scattering over an entire district.

In this way there came to be an association of particular ʻohana with the land units later designated as ahupua‘a. Within a given ahupua‘a the heads of the respective ʻohana were responsible for seeing that their people met the tax levy prescribed by the konohiki, the ali‘i’s land supervisor.

The heads of the ʻohana groups were called haku or haku ‘āina. So far as is known there was no formal procedure involved in the choice of a haku for an ʻohana.

He came by his responsibility through seniority and competence. His authority was a matter of common consent rather than formal sanction; he was not appointed, he was not elected.

There was a high degree of stability or permanence of tenure despite the general turnover of authority and titles to the land whenever a new aliʻi came into power, owing to the fact that particular ʻohana enjoyed the rights of occupancy and use and faithfully fulfilled their obligations.

In many cases their ancestors had pioneered the area and cultivated it since the earliest era of Hawaiian settlement. Actually it was to the advantage of an aliʻi to maintain the occupancy of diligent cultivators of the land.

Thus the kauhale, the homesites of established ʻohana, were permanent features of the landscape, and the vested interest of any given family was equivalent to a title of ownership, so long as the landsman labored diligently to sustain his claim and was loyal to his aliʻi.

People identify themselves not just with the chiefdom (moku,) but with the ahupua‘a which was their homeland. This was true throughout the Hawaiian Islands.

This loyalty to locality, the identification of persons with family or ʻohana and with the ‘āina that nourished the ʻohana is an attitude that was ingrained. (The information here is from Handy & Handy with Pukui.)

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June 11, 2016 by Peter T Young 3 Comments

La Ho‘o-mana‘o O Kamehameha I

Kamehameha Day was first proclaimed by Kamehameha V as a day to honor his grandfather, Kamehameha I, and was first celebrated on December 11, 1871 (Kamehameha V’s birthday.) It later changed to June 11.

“The celebration of Kamehameha Day on June 11 came about in the following way.”

“On December 11, 1871, the birthday of Kamehameha V who was at that time ruling king, a public celebration was held with horse-riding and other sports.”

“It was agreed to make this celebration an annual event, but because of the uncertain weather in December to change the date to June.”

“Kamehameha V died soon after, and the holiday remained as a ‘Day in Commemoration of Kamehameha I,’ (La Ho‘o-mana‘o o Kamehameha I.)” (Kamakau)

So, while linked to Kamehameha V’s birth date, it boils down to having a celebration when the weather is better (6-months from King Kamehameha V’s birthday.) The date does not have any direct connection to Kamehameha I.

The 1896 legislature of the Republic of Hawaiʻi declared it a national holiday.

“Kamehameha Day was generally observed by the people. Elaborate preparations were made for the celebration of the day, with sumptuous feasts and sports, and every effort was brought to bear in order to insure the success of the occasion.”

“It might well be said that, in the language of the poet, its observance was usually attended with:
‘The boast of heraldry, the pomp of power,
And all that beaut’, all that wealth e’er gave.’”

“The celebration itself was characterized by a cheerful spirit and good-fellowshlp. ‘Aloha,’ the watchword that opened every heart and brightened every soul, was greeted on every side, and hospitality, unalloyed and unbounded, was displayed at every door. There was no distinction in race, color or creed.” (John C Lane, Mayor, 1916)

In 1939, Hawaiʻi Revised Statutes under the Territorial Legislature of Hawai‘i created the King Kamehameha Celebration Commission – that law remains in effect, today.

State law notes: §8-5 King Kamehameha celebration commission … “The commission shall have charge of all arrangements for the celebration each year generally observed throughout Hawai‘i Nei on June 11, to commemorate the memory of the great Polynesian Hawaiian warrior and statesman King Kamehameha I, who united the Hawaiian Islands into the Kingdom of Hawai‘i”. In 1978 the legislature renamed this holiday King Kamehameha I Day.

Almost from its first observance this day was celebrated chiefly by horse races in Kapi‘olani Park; but the races eventually gave way to today’s parades of floats and pāʻū riders.

On February 14, 1883, the Kamehameha statue was unveiled at Aliʻiōlani Hale during the coronation ceremonies for King Kalākaua.

The stance of the statue, with spear in left hand and right outstretched with open palm, showed the “successful warrior inviting the people … to accept the peace and order he had secured.”

At the request of the monument committee, statue designer Thomas R Gould modified the features to make the king seem about 45-years old. The intent was a bronze statue of ‘heroic size’ (about eight-and-a-half-feet tall.)

‘Boston Evening Transcript’ of September 28, 1878, noted “It has been thought fitting that Boston, which first sent Christian teachers and ships of commerce to the Islands, should have the honor of furnishing this commemorative monument.”

While Gould was a Bostonian, he was studying in Italy, where he designed the statue; ultimately, the statue was cast in bronze in Paris.

It was shipped on August 21, 1880, by the bark ‘GF Haendel,’ and was expected about mid-December. On February 22, 1881, came word that the Haendel had gone down November 15, 1880, off the Falkland Islands. All the cargo had been lost.

About the time it was lost, King Kalākaua was on a royal tour of the island of Hawai‘i. He made a speech in front of the Kohala Post Office.

There, the King was reminded the Kamehameha Statue was destined for Honolulu, yet Kohala, the birthplace of Kamehameha, was overlooked as a place for his statue. Kohala residents then raised funds and a replica was ordered.

It turns out, however, that the original statue had been recovered and was in fair condition. The right hand was broken off near the wrist, the spear was broken and the feather cape had a hole in it. It was taken to a shed at Aliʻiolani Hale to be repaired.

Meanwhile, on January 31, 1883, the replica ordered by Kohala arrived. On February 14, 1883, the replica statue was unveiled at Aliʻiolani Hale during the coronation ceremonies for King Kalākaua.

As for the original statue (which had been repaired,) it was dedicated on May 8, 1883 (the anniversary of Kamehameha’s death) and is in Kapaʻau, North Kohala outside Kohala’s community/senior center.

There are now four different statues of similar design of Kamehameha:
• The first replica stands prominently in front of Aliʻiolani Hale in Honolulu
• The original (repaired) casting of the statue is at Kapaʻau, North Kohala
• Another replica is in US Capitol’s visitor center in Washington DC
• Another statue is at the Wailoa River State Recreation Area in Hilo

The customary draping of the Kamehameha Statue with lei dates back to 1901. As far as the parade goes, in 1903, the Territory of Hawaiʻi, Chamber of Commerce and Merchants’ Association created the Hawaiʻi Promotion Committee (forerunner to the Hawaiʻi Visitors and Convention Bureau.) Supported by a legislative appropriation, it was mandated to provide better publicity to encourage tourism to Hawaiʻi.

The early years of the Territorial era saw the creation of a series of public celebrations. Beginning with the Mid-Pacific Carnival in 1904, a series of multiethnic public celebrations and parades were created to attract tourists and showcase Hawaiʻi’s multi-ethnic culture.

The Mid-Pacific Carnival, held in February as a celebration in honor of Washington’s birthday, had spectacular and historic pageants and military parades featured. During the winter season, the Mid-Pacific Carnival was at ʻAʻala Park in downtown Honolulu. Circus acts, sideshows and hula dancers entertained the public.

The carnival had an annual Floral Parade. By the early-1900s, the automobile made its appearance and soon reduced the need and use of horses. Then, a group of women made a society to keep the culture going and Pāʻū clubs were formed.

The Hawaiian Star, February 22, 1906, headlined the “Floral Parade a Great Success.” “It was a great day for Honolulu. The Promotion Committee’s inauguration of what is intended to be an annual event in celebration of Washington’s birthday, could have asked no better day, no greater success …”

“… no more wide spread interest in all classes of the population, no greater enthusiasm among those who participated In the parade, and no more unique, striking, or picturesque a feature to individualize the celebration in Honolulu, and make it separate, and apart from the pageant of other places than the Pa-u riders.”

“The Pa-u riders, of course, were the magnet and center of attraction. This revival of an old custom, picturesque and under the conditions that gave rise to it, strikingly useful, was a happy thought of the Promotion Committee.”

“It appealed to dormant but when aroused, pleasing associations, among the older residents, especially the Hawaiians. It appealed to the love of oddity and the striking costume in the younger generation.” (The Hawaiian Star, February 22, 1906)

In 1916, Mid-Pacific Carnival merged into the Kamehameha Day Parade.

Next time you are at the original or replicas of the Kamehameha Statue, look closely at Kamehameha’s sash; there is an error in the arrangement of the sash. Traditionally, a sash is worn by first draping the sash over the left shoulder to where it falls between the knees.

Then the remaining length is wrapped around the waist and over the front flap of the sash to around the back, fed behind the part over the shoulder, and the remaining hangs down in the back (at knee length.) (San Nicolas) After that, you put the cape on over it all.

“In the statue the cordon passes from the pendent end up behind the portion used as a waist-band, over the left shoulder, outside the cloak, instead of returning down the back to form the belt as it should have done with the end tucked in to tighten the band, it leaves this belt as an independent member and passes down over the cloak to trail on the ground!” (Brigham)

“The final arrangement must be based on esthetic rather than historical grounds. In fact, the decorated end of the sash drags on the ground behind the figure. The other end has had to be supplemented with a fictitious terminal band to be presentable in front.”

“If you look closely, the final arrangement is impossible without two sashes: a long one from malo front over the shoulder and down to the ground, and a short, separate belt.” (Later noted by Charlot.)

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The original statue of King Kamehameha I, in Kapaʻau

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King Kamehameha I statue and Aliiolani Hale building, in downtown Honolulu

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The original statue of King Kamehameha I, in Kapaʻau, North Kohala. Sculptor-Thomas Ridgeway Gould

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Statue of Kamehameha I, located in the Wailoa River recreation area of Hilo

Kamehameha statue on display in the US Capitol Visitors Center, Washington DC

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June 10, 2016 by Peter T Young Leave a Comment

Government Employees Mutual

Closed door (or membership) stores were discount stores that existed in the US since the late-1920s, when some retailers distributed ‘membership’ cards to some of their customers. In some cases, only card holders could shop there; at others, the card holder received lower prices than the noncard holder.

One of the largest was GEM International. GEM (Government Employees Mutual) had units from Boston to Honolulu (and even into Canada, England and Puerto Rico.) (Rotary) (GEM was also referred to as Government Employees Mart.)

The overall operation of the GEM store is that portions of the facility were leased to various merchandising enterprises; the commodities in which they deal were sold to members of the GEM; a percentage of the gross sales was paid for the use of the space occupied by the merchants.

Only members of the GEM were permitted to make purchases in this warehouse store and prices prevailing at the GEM store are substantially below prevailing retail prices elsewhere. (Supreme Court of Colorado)

A GEM membership cost $1 to $2 and was open to active and retired members of any level of government, the military, educational institutions, businesses with government contracts, and non-profit organizations. (Torontoist)

It started in Denver, Colorado; the Women’s Wear Daily June 12, 1956 issue reportedly noted, “New Discount Setup For Government Help Is Opened in Denver.”

“GEM, Government Employees Mutual, Denver’s first large discount house, carrying both hard and soft lines opened here at 5200 Smith Road. Shopping at the new firm will be restricted to city, county, State and Federal employees and military personnel.”

Glenn Kaya is credited with bringing the GEM stores to Hawaiʻi – starting with Kapalama, on Dillingham Boulevard (July 17, 1957) and Ward Avenue (August 1, 1962.) (Ulukau) Following the mainland model, GEM itself did not carry inventory, it leased space to concessionaires operating different ‘departments.’

Later, stores were added at Waipahu, Hilo, Kauai and Kaneʻohe and GEM became the No. 2 retailer in the state (behind Sears.) Shortly before the Waipahu GEM opened in 1970, the membership requirement was eliminated. (Sigall)

“Many of Hawaiʻi’s well-known companies were GEM departments. ABC Stores, Wong’s Drapery, CS Wo, Mid-Pacific Lumber, Kim Chow, Honolulu Sporting Goods and Hauoli were all GEM tenants.” (Kaya; Sigall)

It was creative with promotions, too. “When GEM Stores in the new state of Hawaiʻi hooked Huckleberry Hound, Yogi Bear and Quick Draw McGraw for personal appearances to build store traffic and plug the stores’ third anniversary promotion … KHVH-TV, Honolulu, was used to implement the program.”

“Starting almost two months before the visit, a strong TV spot campaign was initiated to recruit members for the H Hound fan club and plugging Huckleberry for President buttons.”

“When Huck and his pals armed at Honolulu International, about 10,000 of their loyal Hawaiian fans turned out to great them — the largest crowd in the airport’s history.” (Source – The Weekly Magazine Radio and TV Advertisers Use, February 1961)

“The crowd out to greet Huckleberry with campaign manager Yogi Bear and Quick Draw McGraw (who is slated for a high State Department post if Huckleberry Hound wins) exceeded that drawn earlier by President Eisenhower and visiting royalty from Japan and Iran.”

“Traffic was tied up in the air and on the ground, and the (GEM) store had to lock its doors when 25,000 had thronged in, according to Ed Justin, assistant campaign manager”. (Broadcasting, August 8, 1960)

“Glenn Kaya, general manager of GEM, reported that store sales were way up during their Honolulu junket. Results were equally record-breaking on their visits to other islands”. (The Weekly Magazine Radio and TV Advertisers Use, February 1961)

Later, GEM International merged with Parkview Drugs of Kansas City. In 1965, GEM had 34 stores across the country and Parkview had 39 drug stores and other leased departments, including 22 in GEM stores. Control would be vested in Parkview. (Southeast Missourian, December 22, 1965) Kaya was made Parkview-GEM Vice President.

While sales were good, GEM and other discounters were concerned about Hawaiʻi’s Fair Trade Act that had been passed on May 14, 1937. It authorizes minimum price fixing contracts as to the sale or resale of products sold under trademark brand or name. (A manufacturer could state the minimum price a product could sell for.) It noted:

“Wilfully and knowingly advertising, offering for sale or selling any commodity at less than the price stipulated in any contract entered into pursuant to the provisions of this part, whether the person so advertising, offering for sale or selling is or is not a party to such contract, is unfair competition and is actionable at the suit of any person damaged thereby.” (US Court of Appeals 9th Circuit, 1960)

Through efforts of Kaya and others, “The legislature of the State of Hawaiʻi has repealed that state’s Fair Trade Act, effective May 11, 1967. … Hawaiʻi’s resale price maintenance statutes had favored large mainland manufacturers’ brand name products, and that such a statute tended to keep prices up.” (Journal of Marketing, 1967)

Later (January 15, 1974,) the Washington Post noted that the parent Parkview-Gem, Inc., of Kansas City, Mo., was reorganized under a section of the Bankruptcy Act. The nationwide discount chain has incurred losses for several years, and had closed 35 stores during the past year. The Hawaiʻi stores closed in 1993.

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Huckleberry Hound for President